1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the art of electrical connectors, and more particularly to a high-speed electrical connector having retention mechanism which can prevent contacts retained in the connector from deformation during inserting in a direction perpendicular to a printed circuit board (PCB) when the connector is mounted to the PCB.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional high-speed electrical connector 500 commonly has a plurality of electrical contacts 52 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, each of which has a press-fit retaining portion 524. When the connector 500 is mounted to a printed circuit board (PCB) 53, the retaining portions 524 of the contacts 52 are inserted into through holes 531 in the PCB 53. Each through hole 531 has a diameter less than a dimension of the retaining portion 524. The connector 500 can be mounted on the PCB 53 by pressing the retaining portions 524 of the contacts 52 into the through holes 531 without additional soldering process.
When the connector 500 is mounted to the PCB 53, the retaining portions 524 of the contacts 52 confront sidewalls of the PCB 53 around the through holes. The contacts 52 are retained in passageways 513 of the housing 51 by barbs 523 protruding from opposite sides of each contact 52. However, the barbs 523 are insufficient to securely retain the contacts 52 in the passageways 513 if the insertion force during the mating process is too high. The contacts 52 will slide upwardly along the passageways 513 as the housing 51 is pressed downwardly, which leads to the contacting portion 521 of the contacts 52 resisting an inner face 518 of a top wall of the housing 51. Under such condition, the contacting portions 521 will bias from their proper position, thereby failing to electrically connect with corresponding contacts of a mating connector (not shown). In addition, the insertion force acted on a tail portion 525 of the contact 52 may subject the tail portion 525 to a force in a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction which alters the pitch of the contacts thereby adversely affecting insertion of the contacts 52 into the holes 531 defined in the PCB 53.
Therefore, an improved connector and compliant contacts are required having an improved retention mechanism for retaining the contacts within a housing of a connector which will eliminate undue deformation of the contacts. Copending application Ser. No. 10/013,417 filed on Dec. 7, 2001 having the same inventor, the same title and the same assignee with the invention, discloses one approach of this issue.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved connector with contacts having retaining mechanisms for positioning the contacts in true positions when the connector is mounted to a PCB.
In order to achieve the object set forth, an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention includes an insulative housing defining a plurality of passageways therethrough and a plurality of contacts received in the passageways. Each passageway has a downwardly facing sidestep in an inner wall thereof forming a stopping surface. Each contact has a base portion and a pair of contacting portions received in the passageway of the housing and a press-fit tail portion extending downwardly from the bottom surface of the housing. A retaining portion extends upwardly from the base portion and resists against the stopping surface of the sidestep of the passageway. Thus, when the contacts of the connector are inserted into through holes in a PCB, the contacts are prevented by the sidesteps from sliding upwardly along the passageways.